Are You Spreading Yourself Too Thin?

I got an email a while back from a frustrated reader who was trying a lot of different ways to make money on the internet, but failing chronically.

He also relayed his feelings to me in this way…

“Sometimes I feel like I’m a mile wide and an inch deep by trying to many different things. Since you seem to be doing well, what do you recommend?”

Do you ever feel like that?

This is how I answered him.

“I focus on one thing at a time. I’ll stick with one niche, one website, one traffic generation method and wait to see results from that. Then I’ll try to master and get results from other traffic sources and try to get it all running on auto-pilot as much as possible.. THEN I’ll move on to the next thing.”

I’m not perfect – there are times when some new shiny thing will catch my eye and I’ll want to try this out or that and float away from my focus from time to time, but I try to control my thoughts and actions and get back on track as soon as I can.

There are way too many ways out there to make money online or whatever you want to do.

Our inbox’s and social network news feeds are constantly bombarded with them!

So it’s really easy to get lost and hung up on all the new and different products and methods – but as you know, you end up going nowhere.

That’s where the feeling of being “a mile wide but only an inch deep” comes from. You’re trying everything a little to see if it makes a difference, but the reality is that doing little bits of this and that lightly won’t get you where you want to go. You simply don’t get traction and you stay penny-less.

The thing that really makes a difference is this – consistent, focussed effort.

That’s all you really need.

If you’re just starting out – choose one niche, start one website and focus solely on that project until you succeed.

The only way to be successful with our online business is to focus all your efforts, resources and skills into one campaign…and not even contemplate chasing after another until you succeed at the first one.

The point I want to make is don’t spread yourself too thin across too many different websites and campaigns all going at once.

Learn and master one method or skill at a time.i.e. learn to write good articles and fast, get a system for backlinking in place.

Just like an Olympic athlete doesn’t try to get the gold in every sport in the games, they specialize in one type and win in it. The same goes for entrepreneurs. You will find success when you focus and stick with one project at a time.

It’s hard to be disciplined to stick with one thing – even when you think it’s going nowhere – but that’s the difference between the mediocre and those who really succeed.